Time Lapse Photography

Was trying my hand last night at doing some time lapse photography. In the end it wasn't to great of image quality. But it built the foundation for me to learn on and make the next photo shoot better. In the end it was fun and I wanted to show what I did accomplish.
The settings I went for last night were 30sec exposer, ISO 1600, f/11 @ 10mm on my wives and I's Canon T3i. First thing, even after post processing in RAW, ISO 1600 on this camera was still horrible. Second f/11 made some of the stars look like I had a star point filter on it. So next time I will adjust my setting down to ISO 800ish and try about f/7. Should provide better results. Didn't need a timer for this shoot as since the shutter speed was open for 30 seconds each time, a regular wired remote with a button lock worked well.

Few notes here for anyone looking to try this.
- Check your lens for fog or haze every 30 mins. Dew will form later on in the evening. So bring cleaning cloths.
- Use a sturdy tripod and place on solid ground.
- Use lens hood even at night, I had some street lights that I had to adjust for.
- A battery grip can be useful for longer battery life.
- Don't forget to lock your lens on Manual Focus and set it to Infinity.
- Bring a flash light and insect repellant.
- Last thing I can think of, the darker the area the better results. This was a learning experience last night, so my back yard was fine. When I get it down to looking perfect I am going to the beach at night to have a broader point of view.

Last here is my video, did it in iMovie 10.
Stars Time Lapse 30Dec2013 - YouTube

If anyone else wants to post their time-lapse or chat about their experiences here, please do so..

Cheers,
Joe

A little fun using Star Stack.

BTW this is a really easy and nice program to use and is open source and free.

Having a name like Joe Jackson is both a blessing and a curse. You share a name with a great pop musician and a legendary baseball player (the latter of whom was the inspiration of "Field of Dreams").

Sadly, this means you will never find yourself in Google searches.

PS. Nice stars!

chas_m said:

Having a name like Joe Jackson is both a blessing and a curse. You share a name with a great pop musician and a legendary baseball player (the latter of whom was the inspiration of "Field of Dreams").

Sadly, this means you will never find yourself in Google searches.

PS. Nice stars!

Click to expand...

You have no idea how many times I have been asked if I was kin to Shoeless..

Thanks, stars will get better with good old practice.

And a boxer too . . .
Joe Jackson - Boxer

LOL I should change my name to Larry.. /NOT!

Started / well did go out tonight going to take some better night shots of the stars. But by the time I got my camera lens acclimated to the warm humid air, then got my setting sharp and noise free. The clouds rolled in, looks like its going to rain.. This is what I get for living on a tropical island.

Anyhow, I was using ISO 400, 10mm (16mm effective), f/4 @ 30sec. Which was very clear and pleasant for a time lapse. However for a still it had the stars little egg shaped. Which to the best of my knowledge 16mm @ 30 secs should be well with in the 500 rule at 31.25 seconds for round clear stars.. Then again I am in the Philippines and rules don't always work here like the rest of the world.. ;D